Creating a New Medina
State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India

This book challenges the fundamental assumptions regarding the foundations of Pakistani nationalism during colonial rule in India.

Venkat Dhulipala (Author)

9781316615379, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 July 2016

554 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 3.1 cm, 0.84 kg

'By unearthing enormous evidence of overwhelming support for Pakistan especially in the United Provinces of Agra and Audh (U.P.) this book debunks the mainstream historiography of Pakistan as a sudden emotive construct. … Taking the same tradition of iconic writings forward, this encyclopaedic work makes a valuable addition to the ever-expanding literature on Pakistan.' Swaran Singh, The Hindu

This book examines how the idea of Pakistan was articulated and debated in the public sphere and how popular enthusiasm was generated for its successful achievement, especially in the crucial province of UP (now Uttar Pradesh) in the last decade of British colonial rule in India. It argues that Pakistan was not a simply a vague idea that serendipitously emerged as a nation-state, but was popularly imagined as a sovereign Islamic State, a new Medina, as some called it. In this regard, it was envisaged as the harbinger of Islam's renewal and rise in the twentieth century, the new leader and protector of the global community of Muslims, and a worthy successor to the defunct Turkish Caliphate. The book also specifically foregrounds the critical role played by Deobandi ulama in articulating this imagined national community with an awareness of Pakistan's global historical significance.

List of photographs and maps
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Glossary
Introduction
1. Nationalists, communalists and the 1937 provincial elections
2. Muslim mass contacts and the rise of the Muslim League
3. Two constitutional lawyers from Bombay and the debate over Pakistan in the public sphere
4. Muslim League and the idea of Pakistan in the United Provinces
5. Ulama at the forefront of politics
6. Urdu press, public opinion and controversies over Pakistan
7. Fusing Islam and state power
8. The referendum on Pakistan
Epilogue
Conclusion
Select bibliography
Index
About the author.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]